Happy Easter!

Baby F's face in this one above 😂

Wishing you all a beautiful Easter! I'll be back again this week after Crafting On with another post.

P.S. - Still trying for that elusive group shot where everyone is looking at the camera at the same time (and not making a face!).

Happy Easter!

Surprises for Seven

My dear Little L just turned seven (!!) and boy did he have a full birthday. We started the day out with a pinata (his request) and presents. Then we hung out at home until our daily lap swim time. That was when his birthday celebration really began. We arrived at the pool to discover that our dear friends from Portland were there (little did he know I was working on that surprise the day beforehand). Instead of lap swim we did the rock wall (my kiddos first time) and then played in the pool for awhile.  Afterwards we went to a park for some play and vegan cheesecake (our house is too small for us, let alone guests). We went out for dinner and then the freezing temperatures and late hour made us call it quits for the night. Thankfully, the celebrating lasted a bit longer as it carried over to the next day when we met up at the beach to say our goodbyes before they had to head back to Portland. We were all sad when they had to go but found comfort in knowing we'll see them again sometime soon. L was a smiles as we drove away. He said it was his best birthday yet!

Surprises for Seven

Health and Heartbreak

Our health is improving (well, minus my debilitating sinus headaches). Hurrah!! I partly attribute that to our daily lap swims at our local rec center (homeschool PE at its best). I forgot what a workout swimming is! My lungs are having a harder time than the rest of my body as I swim but hopefully once we are back to 100% health things will all even out. My children are blowing me away. The girls swim laps with me. Every few days or so I show them a new skill to work on. They are growing by leaps and bounds each time we go. My boys, too. Kevin and I take turns - one of us does laps while the other is in the smaller pool with the boys. Little L feels brave enough now to jump off the diving board and swim in the deep end of the big pool which is a big deal for him. It might not be long until he is joining us for laps. Baby F just got goggles and likes to go underwater with Kevin to gather toys off the bottom of the pool. He also jumps in the water by himself, holds his breath as he floats to the surface and pulls himself back to the wall to climb out and do it all over again. He amazes me!! I think I have a family of water babies!

Remember that post I had a few weeks back about something exciting? Well, it was the sweetest little house on the most beautiful land complete with a farmhouse sink and the open kitchen shelving of my dreams. We put an offer in on it (we even wrote a letter and had our children draw pictures for the owner) and seemed pretty confident we would get it. However another offer was put in at the same time and it was cash. As I am sure you all know, nothing competes with cash. I won't lie, we were all completely crushed. After nearly 9 months of house hunting, we finally find one we liked within our budget and it just wasn't meant to be. I don't know if I took it the hardest or my children but either way we were all a miserable bunch for quite awhile.

We found another possible house. The land was beautiful, the house...well, it needed a lot of work but did I mention the land?! The owners even took us on a three hour tour of the property. Once again we started to fall in love. We contacted our lender  and then things fell apart. It was agricultural land and our lender wouldn't give us the loan unless we paid the owner's back taxes - $40,000! So here we are, still stuck in this cramped, tiny house pulling our hair out and praying for a change. I've said it a million times but I will say it again - house hunting in western Oregon is brutal. Unless you are a millionaire, I suggest not ever moving here. It just isn't worth it, no matter how beautiful the scenery is. Honestly, I am just so over it.

Health and Heartbreak

Schooling on a boat

The girls writing and drawing about chlorophyll in leaves in their nature journals (Little L did this, too).
Not only do we have the gorgeous Pacific Ocean nearby but also many beautiful rivers, streams, waterfalls and lakes - a water lover's dream. Kevin had been wanting to take the children out on a boat for years but we just never made it happen. Over the summer he finally got the chance and took our three oldest out in a canoe all day on Delake. They had such a great time that he decided the whole family needed to experience it. We talked about it here and there, again not finding the time, and then one day the stars aligned and it just happened. We decided a canoe was not the best idea for our high energy, rambunctious Baby F (I mean, did we really want to all end up in the freezing cold water?) but rather a somewhat larger motorboat. Our three oldest had a blast. They each took turns driving it. Learning how to drive a motorboat is schooling right? Life learning I say! Much to my surprise, Baby F aka Finnbar the Mobile (Kevin's viking nickname for him) enjoyed it, too. He seemed mesmerized by the feeling of gliding over the water. We spent hours out on the lake, stopping here and there at playgrounds and parks to observe the wildlife and study the plants and ecosystems. We even came across deer in the water. Kevin tried to get the boat as close to shore as possible so I could get a picture but the water was far too shallow and we almost got stuck. Another lesson for the children, right? 🙈 All in all I would say this day was an experience they won't forget.

Some school days require field trips. Sometimes those field trips are just the break you all needed from the monotony of home life. This mini field trip was just that.

p.s. - Completely unrelated but felt the need to share.
When your knitting tools (blocking mats) are found and become toys...

Schooling on a boat

Birthday Week: Part Two

It almost looks like he is pouting in this pic but he is actually looking at the sharks swimming below him

Flock and Fiber Festival Surprise


As I mentioned last week, I wanted to share the last bit from K's birthday week/Purple Grandma's visit. Much to Little L's delight we went to the local aquarium. He is planning to be the next Jacques Cousteau, you know. His special hammerhead shark Lavender came along, too. The aquarium was awesome. We could make a homeschool field trip out of it one of these days. There was so much to learn. I think everyone had fun. However, when we got to the shark tank I was a bit surprised by Little L's reaction or should I say lack thereof. I could tell he was happy to see sharks in real life but I think I expected a little something more, I mean we all know of his shark obsession, right?! It wasn't until about halfway through our time at the aquarium that it dawned on me that he was just drained and overwhelmed, you can see it in his sweet face in the pictures. My children, like me, are homebodies (and most on the introvert side as well) so our week of going out every day just exhausted us and left us all (myself included) not at our best. We were very grateful for all our experiences but just wishing we could have somehow spread them out a bit more. Of course, that wasn't really possible. Someone should make a book on vacationing for introverts. I know I'd buy it. 😂

K also had a very special surprise at the annual Flock and Fiber Festival. Her very best friends from Portland (the very same ones we saw for my birthday in August) came to see her and celebrate her birthday. Kevin and I were both in on the surprise this time but I couldn't believe all they did. They even brought a cake! She was beside herself with joy - she loves them all so (as do the rest of us). I am guessing this was one of her favorite birthdays yet (only behind the two joint birthday parties with the same friends at the pumpkin patch in Portland). It was her very own birthday party in with the sheep and woolly goodness.

Speaking of woolly, we also met up with my friend Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots and her family there. They had a booth set up, which was amazing by the way, and we had been planning to get together and let our boys play as soon as we knew we'd be back in Oregon for the event. Oh my, those boys of ours. They go months, even years without seeing one another (they write - actually draw pictures, in between) yet they act like they were just together the day before. Such a sweet friendship they have. I think the same goes for Taryn and I. What blessings friends are!!

Unfortunately, we got the event later in the day than we intended so we didn't get as much time with our friends as we had wanted but we are still grateful for the time we did have. I am sure you can imagine that it was hard for all of us to leave, but we all know we will see each other again soon.

And just because this picture is too funny not to share:

Birthday Week: Part Two